TV auctioneer Charles Hanson ‘promised not to lay finger on wife before arrest’
The 46-year-old, known for appearing on Bargain Hunt and Flog It!, denies using violence against his wife.
Bargain Hunt star Charles Hanson promised his wife he would “never lay a finger” on her “ever again” in a message days before he was arrested, a court has heard.
Hanson, 46, is on trial at Derby Crown Court accused of pushing, grabbing, scratching and holding his wife Rebecca Hanson in a headlock during an alleged decade of violence which began in 2012, two years after they married.
The television auctioneer, of Ashbourne Road in Mackworth, Derby, was charged with controlling or coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault by beating after he was arrested on June 14 2023.
WhatsApp messages between Hanson and his wife from June that year leading up to his arrest in which he told her he would “never lay a finger” on her “ever again” were read to the court by prosecutor Stephen Kemp on Tuesday.
On June 5 of that year, Hanson messaged Mrs Hanson and said: “I promise now I will never ever lay a finger on you … ever again. Let’s just give it a go, we have been through a lot in 13 years.”
He added: “Let me have one more chance and let me show you what a good husband… I can be.”
One of Mrs Hanson’s responses said: “Fed up with this, you will never change.”
Her husband said in a message days later: “I know if I do anything with laying hands on again I will have to walk.
“I really do want to try and make it work, I love you and realise what I need to do. Can we not give it a two week cooling off and see where we are? I did not sleep last night thinking about everything.”
Mrs Hanson responded in another message: “I’m past that point I’m afraid.”
A few days before Hanson was arrested, Mrs Hanson told him in a text that she wanted to separate after he “pushed (her) too far”.
He said in messages to his wife earlier that month: “Please don’t say you are done, it’s like a knife through my heart. Please give me one more chance. I promise I will change and I know I can. ”
Mrs Hanson’s mother Jacqueline Ludlam told the court that the couple’s relationship began as “quite a normal marriage” before Hanson’s “outbursts” became more frequent.
She told the court: “She had been telling me she was scared of him and she had got to get away from him. It was not very practical for her to leave.”
Mrs Ludlam told the jury Hanson was “desperate” to try anything and agreed to go to marriage counselling, which the jury had heard the couple attended one session of in May 2023.
She told the court there had been one occasion when her daughter rang her while on holiday with Hanson in Wales and said he had locked her in a hotel room and driven away.
Sasha Wass KC, defending Hanson, asked Mrs Ludlam why she had not contacted anybody about any of the allegations made by her daughter about Hanson.
Mrs Ludlam said: “If this had been a regular man I think we would have acted differently. We were still thinking this was a celebrity status and somehow he had to be treated differently from a normal person.
“There would be a flare up and then there would be a bit of a calm and you would hope for the best and then there would be a flare up.
“To our shame we did nothing. We were always hoping this would get better.”
Ms Wass said: “You knew perfectly well that Rebecca was a drama queen making allegations which you, no doubt, believed were exaggerated or untrue.”
Mrs Ludlam replied: “That’s not true.”
She told the court: “(Charles) is very charismatic, he’s very charming and he’s a good entertainer, you can’t deny any of that, but that is not always what you get behind closed doors.”
The trial continues.
